The BEYOND REASON Israel "Deal"

posted by Michael Yaffee -
Feb 16, 2017

Have you ever seen Netanyahu smile as much as he did at the White House yesterday? I guess it’s not surprising considering how he was treated by the last occupant. The Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Trump at the White House yesterday and of course most of the discussion was about the so called two state solution and new Israeli Settlements.

Oh the two state solution. I feel like I’ve been hearing about this my whole life. Oh wait, I actually HAVE been hearing about this my whole life! The world keeps talking about it like it’s just as simple as Israel giving the Palestinians some more land and everything after will be sunshine and lollipops. Do we really believe this? Well at the press conference yesterday Netanyahu laid out why it’s not so simple.

“I want to deal with substance. It's something I've hoped to do for years in a world that's absolutely fixated on labels and not on substance. So here's the substance. There are two prerequisites for peace that I laid out two -- several years ago and they haven't changed. First, the Palestinians must recognize the Jewish state.

They have to stop calling for Israel's destruction, they have to stop educating their people for Israel's destruction. Second, in any peace agreement, Israel must retain the overriding security control over the entire area west of the Jordan River because if we don't, we know what will happen. Because otherwise, we'll get another radical Islamic terrorist state in the Palestinian areas exploding the peace, exploding the Middle East.

Now unfortunately, the Palestinians vehemently reject both prerequisites for peace. First they continue to call for Israel's destruction inside their schools, inside their mosques, inside the textbooks. You have to read it to believe it. They even — you know, they even deny, Mr. President, our historical connection to our homeland.”

Is this such an unreasonable request? Apparently so. How can there even be a discussion when the other side doesn’t think you have a right to exist? How can you make a “deal” when the other side thinks you should be extinguished and teaches their children that Jews are less than human? Even when John Kerry once again called for a two state solution before he left office there were influential Palestinians who said it was unacceptable because it cements Israel’s right to exist. This is why the two state solution has never been realized and probably never will.

President Trump on the other hand thinks he’s the man to do it! He thinks this will be the greatest “deal” he will ever accomplish in his life. Trump addressed this as well in the press conference yesterday.

“So, I'm looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one that both parties like. I'm very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one. I thought for a while the two-state looked like it may be the easier of the two but honestly, if Bibi and if the Palestinians -- if Israel and the Palestinians are happy, I'm happy with the one they like the best….

And we have been discussing that and it is something that is very different, hasn't been discussed before. And it's actually a much bigger deal -- much more important deal in a sense. It would take in many, many countries and would cover a very large territory. So, I didn't know you were going to be mentioning that, but that's now (spa) that you did. I think it's a terrific things and I think we have some pretty good cooperation from people that in the past, would never ever have even thought about doing this. So we'll see how that works out. OK.”

Is it just me or does Trump sound like he’s talking about a business transaction every time he brings this up? He treats it like it’s the same as the real estate deals he made in the past. As good as his intentions are, I don’t think this is going to work.

This might be extreme, but I think one of the problems is the world puts the PLO and Hamas on an equal moral standing with the state of Israel. Why? Israel is better for the world morally, economically, and culturally. It’s time to just support Israel in its goals. At least President Trump seems to be heading in that direction more than Obama ever was, but we will see.